top five movie score

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What makes a good movie click? Good(looking) actors, good plot, appropriate story buildup, awesome movie backdrop to make a few. But what makes a good movie an apt movie are the scores and soundtracks. It’s the icing on the cake. A good score not only enhances the movie, it helps evoke and bring out the emotions the actors and producers behind the movie want to give to the movie viewers. Even a lousy movie can turn into an average one with good scores. And then, there’s the haunting scores that embeds itself into your head, playing its tune over and over again. Those are the apt scores that turn an average movie into a good movie, a good movie into a great movie, a great movie into an apt movie.

Here are my top five favorite movie scores. It’s a little difficult to decide who make the cut (there’s so many great composers out there!) but here’s to the five (in no particular order) who strike that chord in my heart.

1. Soul Outside by Antonio Pinto – The Host (2013)

The Host was just slightly above average as a movie actually, but I like that the score made the the scene whereby the ‘souls’ were extracted/imparted really enigmatic, mysterious yet wonderful to watch. The music is the saving grace for the film. This is one of my top replays at the moment. Can’t get it out of my head!

This beautiful score brings the eight Academy Awards, seven BAFTA awards, five Critic’s Choice Award and five Golden Globe Awards movie to a close, of how a boy who went from rag to riches and gets his girl at the end of the day despite all the odds stacked against him. I like this.

3. Main Theme by Michael Kamen – Band of Brothers (2001)

This was one of the few scores that was ingrained to my head back at my schooling days. Those were the days when I still dreamt of being a cop, or being a fighter pilot and defending national soil. I think this song has a part to play in this. War is never fun and games, and the reality of the people who were sacrificed for the countries interest is very real. Yet who would remember their names when the credits roll in? It takes remarkable courage to be a soldier. One of my favorite scenes from the TV series has to be during the Christmas episode when soldiers from both sides laid down their rifles and celebrate as one collective band of brothers. I love this.

4. Evacuating London by Harry Gregson-Williams – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

When one thinks of Fantasy and Adventure, one would think Narnia. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is possibly one of the most magical movies ever brought to life from a book. Oh when the time Lucy stepped into Narnian snow by the lamppost for the first time, oh when the Pevensies stood to take in the beauty of Narnia, oh when Peter valiantly charged alongside the line of centaurs and Aslan’s animals towards the Witch’s overwhelming army, oh when Aslan turns the tide and saves the day, this movie brings me to tears! But even before that, there was ‘Evacuating London’. That was at the beginning of the movie when the Pevensies were threatened by the London bombings during World War One. Just from listening to this score, I know I am in for a good time, and a magical one on that note.

And there is Cloud Atlas. This is by far the BEST movie I’ve watched in my opinion. This movie is by far in a league of its own. Spanning across six different timelines, the movie itself is “an exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.”– IMDb.com One of my favorite quote from the movie Cloud Atlas: A:“There is a natural order to this world, and those who try to upend it do not fare well.. Only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean!” B:“Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?” And there’s the Cloud Atlas Sextet to match this ‘thought-exploding’ movie. Though close to a three hour movie, you will be glued to the film every minute of a second. Remember to stay for the end credits too.

Is there any movie score or soundtrack you believe should make the top five list?